In a state with a lot of sparsely-populated areas, television translators are an important source of news, information and entertainment. Legislators from one such state, Arizona, are asking that the service remain robust in the aftermath of incentive auctions.
In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, they stated, “As you may be aware, Arizona relies on more than 130 translators to provide essential television service throughout the state. In many cases, these translators provide the only access our constituents have to critical local and national news, weather and emergency information. This is particularly true in a number of Arizona’s Tribal communities, where many cannot afford or do not have access to wireline and wireless telecommunications services or pay television.”
In short, the translators are essential, and the delegation wants to make sure the FCC will not eliminate them in its effort to repurpose spectrum in the television space. They asked to be kept informed of the FCC’s plans in this regard.
Signing the letter were:
District 1: Ed Pastor (D-AZ)
District 2: Ron Barber (D-AZ)
District 3: Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
District 4: Paul A. Gosar (R-AZ)
District 5: Matt Salmon (R-AZ)
District 6: David Schweikert (R-AZ)
District 7: Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ)
District 8: Trent Franks (R-AZ)
District 9: Krysten Sinema (D-AZ)
